UNGA adopts resolution demands Russia to return Ukrainian children, India abstained

By Anjali Sharma

UNITED NATIONS – UN General Assembly on Wednesday adopted a resolution which demanded Russia immediately and unconditionally return all Ukrainian children to Ukraine who have been forcibly transferred or deported since the war started.

World body held an emergency special session and voted on the draft resolution was approved by 91 votes in favor, 12 against and 57 abstentions, surpassed the required two-thirds majority of members present and voting.

The resolution expressed deep concern about the fate of Ukrainian children separated from their families since 2014 when Moscow annexed Crimea including those transferred within occupied Ukrainian territory and those deported to Russia.

It described these acts as violations of the Geneva Conventions, which prohibit the forcible transfer or deportation of protected persons from occupied territory.

It “demands that the Russian Federation ensure the immediate, safe and unconditional return of all Ukrainian children who have been forcibly transferred or deported,” and urged Moscow to cease any further practices of deportation, separation from families, changes of citizenship, adoption or placement in foster families, and indoctrination.

The text also called on the UN Secretary-General to step up his good offices, including through his Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict, to coordinate UN action, engage with Russia on tracking down those taken, and to ensure access for international monitoring and humanitarian organizations.

It also expressed support for international initiatives to secure the prompt return of Ukrainian children and for their rehabilitation and reintegration, including access to health care, psychosocial support and education.

General Assembly President Annalena Baerbock in the opening meeting described the ordeal faced by Ukrainian children taken from their homes.

She said “Imagine you’re a 16-year-old going about your day […] when suddenly soldiers armed with machine guns wearing balaclavas to mask their faces burst into your home,”.

“They force you into your vehicle and drive you away in an unknown direction, and you find yourself stuck for months in a nightmare, with a different name.”

She stressed that international law is unambiguous.

“What we are witnessing therefore is not merely a tragedy of some children, but a violation of international law,” Ms. Baerbock said, cited Article 49 of the Fourth Geneva Convention.

Ukraine’s Deputy Foreign Minister Mariana Betsa presented the draft, said the text was “not about politics…it is about humanity.”

She said that Russia’s war of aggression, she said, children have been killed, injured, raped, separated from their families and deported.

“It is unimaginable that someone could view children as war trophies,” she said.

She added that at least 20,000 Ukrainian children have been deported to Russia.

“Not a single child should be separated from their family,” she stressed.

“This resolution is not about politics,” said Ukraine’s representative, introduced the text before the Assembly. “[It] is about humanity.”  There can be no doubt that every child deserves a home where they feel loved.

She said that after the Russian Federation’s war of aggression against Ukraine, children have been killed, injured, raped, separated from their families and deported.

“It is unimaginable that someone could view children as war trophies,” she said. Moscow’s so-called “rescue operations” are in fact cynical missions to kill Ukrainians and take their children.

As of today, she said, the Russian Federation has deported at least 20,000 Ukrainian children.  While some have been returned, many have not been located.

She recalled that the International Court of Justice issued arrest warrants for President Putin and other officials for these crimes,

Ukraine delegate said the Occupying Power bears full responsibility for the return of Ukrainian children.

“Not a single child should be separated from their family,” she stressed. “Let this Assembly speak for them.”

Russian Federation representative pointed to “concrete steps” to establish peace in Ukraine, stressed that “all efforts need to be subordinate precisely to that imperative”.

She said today’s meeting runs counter to that goal. The “European-Canadian-Kyiv triumvirate” has chosen a “particularly cynical lie” with which to derail peace efforts “namely, assistance to children”.

Russia envoy described the resolution as a “litmus test” for those who have positioned themselves as champions of children’s rights, asking why the text does not mention Russian Federation or mixed Russian Federation-Ukrainian children.

She said Moscow has been and remains “open to cooperation on matters of assisting children — irrespective of political pseudo-resolutions” — and she called on all States to vote against today’s text.  “Each vote for the resolution is support for lies, war and confrontation.

Greece delegation to the UN Stavros Lambrinidis spoke for the European Union in its capacity as an observer, said “the evidence about the forcible transfer and deportation of Ukrainian children speaks for itself.”

Senior Russian officials including some against whom the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants in 2023 have publicly boasted of their efforts to illegally deport children from Ukraine.

Through “inclusive and transparent” consultations, the European Union engaged the UN membership.

“The result is a short, focused and operational text”, he said, which demands that the Russian Federation ensure the immediate, safe and unconditional return of Ukrainian children, and cease its forcible transfer and deportation.

Ambassador Maria Zabolotskaya, Deputy Permanent Representative to the UN, said that Russia rejected the resolution as politically motivated.

She said the meeting ran counter to peace efforts and described the resolution as a “particularly cynical lie.”

Maria Zabolotskaya insisted Moscow remained open to cooperation on children’s issues, urged all States to oppose the text.

“Each vote for the resolution is support for lies, war and confrontation,” she said.

General Assembly also decided to temporarily adjourn its emergency special session, authorized the Assembly President to reconvene it at the request of Member States.

Venezuela’s delegate, spoke for the Group of Friends in Defense of the Charter of the UN, expressed concern about “the timing and content of the draft resolution before us today”.

This initiative “risks derailing dialogue, politicizing a deeply humanitarian matter” and instrumentalized the Assembly for narrow geopolitical ends,” at a time when a small window has opened for settling this conflict, he said.

The non-paper circulated by the Russian Federation provides factual clarifications on the issue at hand, including on the absence of a verified list of missing minors and inconsistencies in the publicly circulated figures.

“Unilateral narratives, bloc-based pressures and incendiary rhetoric have pushed the conflict steadily toward escalation and away from diplomacy,” he said.

He urged all Member States “to give diplomacy a chance”.

Latvia’s delegate, also spoke for Estonia and Lithuania, said the Russian Federation’s “brutal war of aggression against its neighbour has robbed Ukrainian children of their childhoods”.

He expressed support for the resolution, he added: “Make no mistake, this is not just an unintended side effect of Russia’s aggression, this is a deliberate and integral tactics of Russia’s warfare, aimed at erasing Ukraine’s future.”

Latvia noted that the killing, forcible transfer and illegal deporting, indoctrinating and militarizing of Ukrainian children is documented in the Secretary-General’s 2024 annual report on children and armed conflict

He said that the Russian Federation must provide information on all the children and their locations, and allow them to return home. It must grant access to the International Committee of the Red Cross and human rights monitors.

Canada delegate stressed that as founding members of the International Coalition for the Return of Ukrainian Children, his group will continue to provide practical support to protect Ukrainian children and ensure their safe return home.

“The human toll of this unprovoked and unjustifiable war or aggression is staggering,” said Canada’s representative.

Ukrainian children have been killed, wounded and forcibly transferred, and their schools and hospitals bombed, while Russian children are also suffering the consequences of a war they did not choose.

Multiple UN and other international organizations have corroborated the practices of the Russian Federation against Ukrainian children.

He noted that Canada co-sponsored today’s “concise, humanitarian-focused” resolution, he emphasized: “The Russian Federation can end this war today.”

British envoy said “We all have an obligation to protect children and must not allow Russia to use them as pawns of war”.

He cited violations against Ukrainian children documented by Ukrainian officials, independent mechanisms and the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, described efforts to force children under occupation to study Russian curricula as a “despicable attempt to systematically erase Ukrainian identity, and with it, Ukraine’s future”.

He called on Moscow to comply with international humanitarian law and end the forcible transfer of children from occupied territory.

“We must use every lever to pressure Russia to end their invasion of Ukraine, cease these vile deportations, and return all Ukrainian children,” he added.

Czech Republic representative condemned the forced deportation of Ukrainian children from territories temporarily occupied by the Russian Federation.

These confirmed, well-documented acts “constitute war crimes, and may amount to crimes against humanity”, he stressed.

“By removing children from their families and communities and subjecting them to change of national identity and indoctrination, Russia seeks to undermine Ukraine’s future as a sovereign nation,” he added.

He described such conduct as “not only unlawful, but profoundly reprehensible”.

Germany ambassador to the UN noted that the Convention on the Rights of the Child is the most widely ratified international human-rights treaty, signed by 196 countries “including, I may add, by the Russian Federation”.

He said that Article 8 of that Convention is explicit: “States Parties respect the right of the child to preserve their identity, including nationality, name and family relations.”

The deportation and forced transfer of Ukrainian children is a gross violation of international law.

The inhumane practices of Russian Federation authorities regarding children in the temporarily occupied Ukrainian territories “are not inventions”, he stressed — “they are well-documented”.

Every country, then, has the shared obligation under the Convention to end the suffering of these children.

Democratic People’s Republic of Korea expressed deep concern that today’s meeting was convened “on the basis of politically motivated allegations”, turning the Assembly into an arena of political confrontation.

He decried Ukraine’s allegations about the abduction and transport of Ukrainian children as “nothing but propaganda”, stressing that Ukraine has yet to release a complete list of such minors.

“Even the figures they cite have changed from case to case,” he said, adding that armed conflict inevitably gives rise to displacement and tragic family separations.

Thus, “the responsibility for the humanitarian issue arising in this context cannot be attributed to one party alone,” he said.

He added that Ukraine authorities brought about this situation and must be held accountable for it. The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea voted against the resolution.

Representative of the Republic of Moldova said “The barbarity and absurdity of the crime committed by the Russian Federation is beyond understanding.”

He emphasized that this aggression targets “those who carry the story of their nation into the future, those who will build on the ashes of this war and will keep the truth in history”

Moldova envoy urged the international community to join forces to ensure that all unlawfully deported children are safely returned, that accountability for these crimes is effectively ensured and that the trauma experienced by all affected children is properly addressed.

“All this should have ended yesterday,” he added.

Georgia representative said thousands of children have been separated from their families, deprived of their identity, denied access to their native language and culture and subjected to indoctrination.

“Such actions amount to an attempt to erase their very sense of belonging and nationhood,” he stressed.

“The return of these children is a moral imperative, a humanitarian priority and an essential condition for achieving a just and lasting peace in Ukraine.”

He said that Georgia have experienced the trauma of occupation and forced displacement, stands in full solidarity with Ukraine.

Georgian envoy added that thousands of internally displaced persons and refugees from his country, including children, still remain deprived of their right to return to their homes.

GA adopted resolution A/ES-11/L.16/Rev.1 by a recorded vote of 91 in favor to 12 against with 57 abstentions.

Assembly demanded that the Russian Federation ensure the immediate, safe and unconditional return of all Ukrainian children who have been forcibly transferred or deported.

It urged Moscow to cease those activities without delay, and to end the practices of family separation and the “change of [children’s] personal status” through citizenship, adoption, foster placement or indoctrination.

The Assembly requested the Secretary-General to engage with Moscow on the immediate, safe and unconditional return of all Ukrainian children who have been forcibly transferred or deported; ensure unimpeded access for the UN and other relevant international monitoring and humanitarian organizations; and ensure the effective coordination of UN bodies on this issue.